Pain management in commercial pigs has historically been inadequate, with painful procedures routinely conducted without analgesia. Evidence supporting NSAID use in pigs is growing, improving welfare standards.
The inadequate pain management during routine pig procedures represents one of the most numerically significant welfare failures in animal agriculture. Male piglets undergoing surgical castration without anaesthesia or analgesia experience acute pain measurable through vocalisation frequency and cortisol elevation. Tail docking causes acute and potentially chronic neuropathic pain. The scale is vast: tens of millions of piglets undergo these procedures annually in Europe alone. The barriers to change are not primarily economic: meloxicam is inexpensive, and immunocastration eliminates surgical castration completely. The barriers are largely regulatory (prescription requirements), habitual, and related to supply chain infrastructure. Progress is occurring: immunocastration adoption has grown substantially in several European countries, removing surgical castration pain entirely from affected flocks. This represents genuine welfare progress achievable at modest cost.